Kieron calling on the next generation

Great Britain forward Kieron Achara is looking forward to the day he is displaced from his role with the national team.

Whether as a primary scoring option in the starting line-up or providing energy from the bench, Achara has been one of GB's most consistent performers since making his debut in 2008.

But the 31-year-old feels the day should soon arrive when he is overtaken by the team's up-and-coming talents.

"If it fits in with my schedule, I am definitely 100 per cent committed, but I am getting old," said Achara, who is now playing his club basketball back home with Glasgow Rocks in the BBL.

"In the next couple of years, I hope to be a guy that is not good enough to get in the team any more.

"I want to see the next generation step up, really excel and take us to EuroBasket and old guys like myself are not going to have to play 30-plus minutes.

"Being the last guy on the bench, I would be happy with that role."

As well as starring for Rocks, Achara is also revelling in his new role as a father, a major factor in his return to Scotland.

But, having played at a high level in mainland Europe for several years, he has been impressed by the competition in the BBL, and can see huge potential in the domestic game.

He can offer a real insight too, having filled most spots on his national team's roster.

This also makes the forward well placed to offer guidance to the next generation of players, as they gain their first exposure to international-level basketball - and he is not shy about doing so.

"I'm not one to hold my tongue," admits Achara.

"I was a late starter to basketball, but I have been through it all with GB. I have been one of the key players, to being the last man on the bench.

"I find it easier to relate to each and every player on the team because of that. It would be really hard for me, if I was a starter every game, to tell the last guy on the bench to stay focused for when he gets into the game.

"But I have been that guy, so it is naturally easier for me to speak out because I have been through everything and I want to share that experience with everyone."

Some of GB's most promising prospects were afforded the opportunity to gain valuable experience during last summer's EuroBasket qualifying campaign.

And having seen how they responded to that challenge, and have since developed with their club teams, Achara feels this could provide the platform for further improvement.

"We always have to look at the positives in every situation," he added.

"Obviously we had a weaker squad during the summer when compared to previous years, when you look back to the Olympic squad.

"But at the same time, we have the likes of Ben Mockford coming straight out of college and getting the opportunity to play against a great team like Bosnia and going off in the last game.

"It's good for the future. Myles Hesson is playing some great basketball right now, Ashley Hamilton is doing a great job in the Ukraine, I see Matthew Bryan-Amaning is now dominating in Mexico and Orlan Jackman, playing in Germany.

"All these players are getting the opportunity to play in different professional leagues and are getting more experience and that's what we need.

"We need younger guys that are going to step up and carry the team on.

"It is good now that some of them have a year of experience in European qualifiers, they know what it is like to lose, they don't want to feel it again and hopefully we can build on it."

Achara is also hoping to lay further foundations for the future of the sport closer to home.

The influential forward plans to run his own camps in Scotland, bringing more young people to the sport, and who knows, maybe even playing his part in the search for players who could inherit the many roles he has filled for GB.